A Day To Remember On The River Don

Friday 11th October turned out to be a good day for me on the River Don when I was fortunate enough to land four salmon for my efforts. The Don had been running at a good height following a rise in water the weekend before. This rise must have brought some fish on the take as my Dad landed 3 salmon of his on the Wednesday. 

The first salmon I landed was from the Manse Poll on the ADAA's Lower Fintray beat. It was a small grilse around the 5lb mark. I fished the pool several times after without a touch and I decided to head off around 11am. Whilst breaking up my rod and putting my gear back in the car I had a thought of heading up river to fish at Manar. This turned out to be a great decision as I landed 3 salmon there between 12.30pm and 1.45pm! Float/Hover/S1 shooting head with a 10ft 5ips tip and a 10mm Pink Franc N Snaelda doing the damage.

It is great to see the Don fishing well this season and although it is still a long way off it's best, it is another welcome improvement on the previous year. Hopefully this upward trend will continue next year too. 

A good strt to the morning. A 5lb hen Grilse from Lower Fintray.

Two's Up. A 5lb cock Grilse from Manar.

Hatrick! A 7lb cock Salmon from Manar.

Number 4. A 4lb hen Grilse alsofrom Manar.

My Son's First Salmon!

On Wednesday 14th August my son, Liam landed his first salmon at the age of 7 years old. It was caught from the Aberdeen and District Angling Association's Lower Fintray beat and was taken on a spinning lure. I think his smile says it all!!

My son with his first Salmon. A lovely fresh grilse around the 6lb mark.

Liam into a fish on the River Don.

River Don Today

I made a last minute decision to divert my commute home and have a cast on a stretch of the Aberdeen and District Angling Association's water of the River Don. It proved to be a good one as I was lucky enough to land a nice salmon around the 7lb mark and my biggest River Don sea trout which was roughly 5lb in weight.

Caught this cracker today. My biggest River Don sea trout. Estimated at around the 5lb mark. 

The River Don, despite the lack of angling effort, is fishing really well at the moment.And with the 2018 season into is final few weeks time is running out to get out there and give it a go. It's certainly not all doom and gloom as any would have you believe. Go on, give it a go. You might just be surprised!

Lower Fintray - River Don

I had my first cast of 2018 on the River Don last week end as I ventured out to the Lower Fintray beat. Lower Fintray is part of the Aberdeen and District Angling Association water and the famous Manse Pool is part of the beat.

Looking upstream from the tail of the Manse Pool with the snowdrops in full bloom.

The Manse Pool, Lower Fintray. 

It was a cracking day to be out with bright sun and just enough wind to put a ripple on the water. The water height was reading 6" on the Parkhill gauge. I think the FishPal gauges are a bit out these days because going by experience of the stones in the pool I would say it was nearer 8 or 9" to be honest. The water temp was hovering around the 37f mark which is still pretty cold for the River Don.

Fishing down the Manse Pool. 

The hand drawn pool map of the Lower Fintray beat in the hut which over looks the Manse Pool. 

Although I didn't see or catch anything, it was just good to be back out on the Don for a cast again. To many, it's the poorer neighbour of the Dee but on it's day it can be equally productive. Maybe not in recent years to be fair but the potential is still there. When you can fish pools such as the Manse for a little over £200 per season then it would be silly not to give the Don a go. I have no doubt the Don will recover soon enough and hopefully we will see the start of that recovery this year. I'm certainly planning on doing a lot more fishing on the ADAA water this year just to see where the Don stands in terms of numbers for 2018. I'm looking forward to finding out.

Looking downstream in the Eagle Pool at Lower Fintray on the River Don.

Looking upstream from the bank of the Eagle Pool.

An under water still of a Monkey Fly in action as it flutters int he current at the tail of the Manse Pool.

5lb Grilse From The River Don Tonight

I was out for a cast after my work tonight on the River Don and I was fortunate enough to land this salmon of around 5lb. It put up a good fight and was very acrobatic but after a few minutes, I manged to beach the fish. I took this quick photo before it was returned safely to the river.

October silver from the River Don.

A Good Day On The River Don Today

I was out on the River Don today with my Dad fishing the Aberdeen and District Angling Association water. My Dad and I managed to get a fish each and both of them came out of the same lie but two hours apart. We didn't see much evidence of fish in the pools but there was a very brief spell when a few fish were showing and this possibly stirred up resting fish.

The pools were very quiet considering the water rose mid week for the first time since May and I never seen a fin until around 11.00am. This is very unusual for the Don at this time of year but I did hear there was quite a decent run of fish went through on Friday which is encouraging. The water was carrying a wee tinge of colour but a nice peaty whiskey colour rather than dirty which I quite like.

My good friend Charlie Robertson also managed to get a fish today from the Manar beat of the Don. An 8lb cock fish gave him a good tussle before being landed. His fish took an Ally's Shrimp which is a great fly for peaty coloured water and a proven catcher of fish. Well done Charlie. Good to see Manar picking up a few fish again after the low water we've had all summer. The rain forecast will help this week too.

My Dad's first fish of the season. A nice fish around the 7lb mark.

Back she goes to continue her journey to the spawning grounds.

A quick picture for the scrap book. Here I am posing with a nice fresh fish about 6lb.

Safely returned to fight another day.

10lb Hen Salmon From The River Don Today

Had a cast for an hour or so after work tonight and landed this Hen Salmon around the 10lb mark from the River Don. It was howling a gale and I wasn't expecting much but I was delighted to get a take and land the fish. As like Saturday, I was using my Kitchen Sink shrimp pattern and this time it was a #9 Salar double that did the business. The successful tactics were the same as Saturday; floating AFS Shooting Head and 5ft Intermediate tip. The Parkhill gauge was sitting around the 2" mark.

Fish on!

A quick photo before sending her on her way.

Back into the River Don and heading to the spawning grounds further upstream.

Grilse From The River Don Today

Well finally, after a long wait since my last one, I caught this sea liced Grilse from the Lower Don this morning. I hooked it just a few minutes after starting and with the river down to it's bare bones, I was not really expecting to see much never mind catch one so it was very welcome. The Parkhill gauge was reading just 1" and the river bed was covered in slimy algae/weed. The fish put up a spirited fight and after a few pictures it was returned back to the river.

The fish took a pattern I created last year. My dad named it the Kitchen Sink but I never really got round to using it. It's loosely based upon the Junction Shrimp and this is the first fish I have landed using it although I did lose a couple of good fish on the Dee last Thursday using the same fly. I did a Blog post on the fly last October and the dressing for the fly can be found HERE.

5lb River Don Grilse.

Sea lice present around gill plates.

Safely returned to the river.

River Don Salmon And Big Brown Trout

The River Don has had a fantastic Spring this year and the good fishing continued yesterday for my friend Charlie fishing at the Manar beat. He landed and returned this 7lber on his deadly Sunray Shadow variant, named the SS Assassin. (SS standing for Sunray Shadow!) It certainly does the business and has had fish from the Dee, Don and Spey to it's name already since it's creation last summer.

Perseverance was the order of the day as bright sunshine coupled with low water conditions made fishing tricky but fishing whilst the clouds covered the sun was the answer and Charlie was duly rewarded. He also lost two others using the same fly.

Another victim falls to Charlie's deadly SS Assassin.

I ventured out myself in the evening on the Lower Fintray beat of the A.D.A.A water. Nothing doing salmon wise so decided to try for Sea Trout and just as darkness fell my Blue & Silver Sunray was hammered by this big Brown Trout estimated in the 4-5lb range. As it was dark, I initially thought it was a salmon until I landed it. Didn't really do the fish justice playing it on a 14ft salmon rod but still my PB Brown Trout by a long way. The fish was returned to the river and swam away strongly. Not long after returning it, I landed another beauty of a Brownie about 2lb but I didn't photograph that one.

The River Don is renowned for it's Brown Trout fishing and specimens like this are what anglers can expect from most beats up and down the river although not as abundant as before, there are still plenty about to entice anglers from all over the world to come and fish for them.

Not a great picture due to the poor light but a cracking brown trout and these specimens are what the Don is famous for.

Feather Wings For The Spring

Having been inspired by a couple of books I've read recently I thought I'd tie up some patterns on single hooks. I tied up a few Blue Charms, Akroyd and Logie flies to use on the Dee and Don this coming Spring. I've always wanted to try and catch a Salmon on a traditional pattern tied on a single hook but I've only ever landed a kelt. This March I landed a big kelt on the Don which had taken my Musker's Fancy at the tail of the Manse pool.

I used the dressings for the Akroyd and Blue Charm from the book "A Guide to Salmon Flies" by John Buckland and Arthur Oglesby (1990). The Logie dressing was taken from the book "Salmon Fishing, The Greased Line on Dee, Don and Earn" by Frederick Hill (1948). As some of the materials used in the original patterns are too precious to be wasted by me I have used alternatives in my tying. I have the utmost respect for the tiers of Classic salmon flies as they use so many different materials and take amazing skill to construct. These flies are quite rightly classed as an art form and to tie them in hand without a vice would take unbelievable talent. It took me all my time to tie them in a vice with modern materials! I like to read this cracking website about all types and tying of Classic Salmon Flies. It can be found by clicking on this link. http://www.feathersfliesandphantoms.co.uk/vintage_flies_4.html

As this is my last post of 2012 I'd like to wish everyone a Happy New Year and Tight Lines for 2013.

Blue Charm. Made famous by A.H.E Wood on the Cairnton beat of the Dee. This fly accounted for hundreds of salmon during his time there.

Logie. To quote Frederick Hill from his book, "One of our most deadly flies from early April onwards."

Akroyd. A classic Dee pattern which has all the colours we associate with modern Spring flies today. I have tied this with a white wing but it's also tied with a cinnamon turkey wing.

8lb Salmon From The Don

Was out after work for a cast at the Manse Pool on Lower Fintray. With the water high I was not expecting much. Although the water had risen most of the day, it was running fairly clear. I started opposite the hut in the slow water which always holds fish when the water is high. After fishing for 10 minutes or so I connected with a strong, coloured cock fish. It made a few good runs and leapt a couple of times before I managed to land it several minutes later. After a quick picture the fish swam off unharmed.

A bonus fish whilst out in high water for 45 minutes after work.

River Don Produces The Goods Again

I was out and about on the River Don yesterday and started off at the Manse Pool. This pool is on the ADAA beat at Lower Fintray. The water was a bit too high for this pool but I was encouraged to see a few fish moving through. After fishing down the length of the pool without a touch I headed off to fish further upstream to the Kemnay beat. This is a fantastic high water beat and will produce fish from top to bottom if conditions are right. I fished the School and Upper Chapel pools without seeing or touching anything which, given the conditions I thought I might have seen some fish moving in these pools. Whilst fishing the Upper Chapel, I received a call from my friend Charlie who was fishing a few beats below at Manar. He asked if I fancied popping down to have a cast as the beat had no day rods on. I jumped at the chance and strapped the rod to my car and set off.

I arrived at the beat around 3pm and Charlie informed me that he had landed a sea-liced Grilse about 6lb from the Chapel Pool. The fish took a 1/2" Silver Ally tube fished on a 10ft fast sink tip. The beat gauge was reading 1' 5" when I arrived and had the river had dropped from 1' 9" in the morning. During the afternoon, all the pools were basking in bright sunshine so we lightly fished a few of them more in hope than expectation. We were just waiting for 6.30pm or so when the sun moved off the Upper and Lower Wood pools. After a cold tin of beer at the hut we set off down river to fish the now shaded Upper Wood. I went in first and not long after starting there appeared to be a run of fish move into the pool. Casting to a good lie on the far bank produced a very subtle take which initially I thought was a trout or parr. The fish soon woke up and a few minutes later a very small Grilse was netted. It was about 2lb and had been the victum of an attack for a predator of some kind. The fish took a #9 Kinermony Killer fish off a Rio AFS Intermediate tip and a 10ft slow sink polyleader. We both fished through the pool without another touch and set off for the Chapel pool.

Charlie went into the Chapel pool first and fished it through with a Cascade and I followed him down with the same set up as before. I was nearly finished the pool when there was an almighty thump on my fly. A good fish took off like a steam train taking about 10 yards of line in the process before I even realised it was hooked!!! I lifted into the fish and felt the weight. Fish on! This was a good fish but a few seconds later, in a burst of surface splashing, the fish came off! Nothing I could have done but always a sickner when one comes off. I covered the lie with several more casts but it was not to be. Charlie, who was fishing down the pool again covered the lie and something grabbed his fly but didn't hook itself. Pity because I think it would have been a good fish if either of us had landed it. We packed up around 8.45pm and headed home to refect on another good day on the Don at Manar. Here are some pictures from yesterday.

Charlie's 6lb sea liced Grilse from the Chapel Pool at Manar around 11.30am.

Upper Wood Pool. Charlie took this picture of me a few minutes before I landed a Grilse just above the fast water.

A skinny wee Grilse which took a #9 Kinermony Killer. Notice the damage to the fish. It also had a hole in it's back possibly caused by a Heron or diving bird of some kind. It looked to be still quite raw but hopefully it won't cause it too much harm.

You can see the wound on te fish to the left of the picture. It had been in the wars and deserved to be given the chance to spawn and preserve the stocks for the River Don. This hardy fish is a fighter and hopefully it will go and reach the spawning grounds.

Early Start On The Don Pays Off

I was up early this morning and headed down to the River Don. It was running at about 1' 6" on the Parkhill gauge and a good colour. The river has been in great condition these last few weeks with good water and, apart from a few days, running quite clear.

I started off in the Manse about 6.30am. The water was just how I like it for this pool, lapping over a big stone off the bank so I was quietly confident. Apart from a few coloured fish showing nothing much was happening so after a fruitless run down through the pool with a #9 Flamethrower, I changed fly to a sunray shadow. I headed back to the top of the pool and just off the stone I spoke about earlier, my fly was grabbed! After a short but spirited fight, I landed a nice, fresh sea trout about 3lb. No sea lice present but it could have not been in much more than a few days. That was all I touched in the Manse so I strapped the rod on the car and headed across the river to fish the Streams from the South bank.

I arrived at the Streams car park about 10.30am after taking the long way round via Kintore. I kept the same set up that did the business in the Manse Pool, which consisted of a Mackenzie DTX G2 9/10 Floating Shooting Head, a 10ft slow sink tip, 6ft of 10lb Yo-zuri Hybrid and a plastic Sunray Shadow tube. About 5 minutes after starting just opposite the concrete hut, my sunray was hammered by a lively fish. After another short scrap, I netted a sea trout about 2lbs. Again, not sea liced, but it hadn't been in the river that long. After a quick photo I returned the fish and carried on down the pool but nothing doing.

I moved on downstream to fish the Cothal pool, which, at this height of water is a good holding pool when the fish have negociated the fast, streamy water from Fae-Me-Well. There is also a good lie off the North bank where I landed a coloured wee grilse last season. I concentrated the lower half of the pool and with-in a few cast my rod was about pulled out my hand! I couldn't believe it when a chunky wee brown trout about 1 3/4lbs broke the surface. What a hit it gave the sunray as it swung round past the lie. I quickly returned it back to the river and had another cast in the same place. Almost identical to the first fish, my sunray was taken by another greedy brown trout about the same weight as the last one. I fished on down to Fae-Me-Well but it is not really suited for fly fishng as the current comes back on itself and drags the fly down. I called it a day about 12.30 and headed home.

Here are some pictures from today.

A fresh run sea trout from the Manse Pool taken on a Sunray Shadow.

Another nice Sea-Trout from the Streams. Again taken on a Sunray Shadow.

The second of two Brown Trout also taken on Sunrays from the Cothal Pool.

The fly that served me well today. After buying this Guideline AWM 14' 9" 2 years ago, I have used it maybe twice, so today I gave it an outing. Matched up with a 9/10 42g Mackenzie G2 Shooting head, it cast with ease and was very impressive.  I'm going to be using this set up more often from now on!

Salmon Fishing And The "Musker's Fancy."

I stumbled across some extracts from a book in the Carlogie fishing hut this February. The book was called "Salmon Fishing, The Greased Line On Dee, Don And Earn" by Frederick Hill.

The author of the book was a ghillie on the Carlogie beat to Captain Musker in the 1940's. He give detailed descriptions of all the pools at Carlogie and interesting tactics for every condition possible. I purchased a copy of this wonderful wee book a few weeks back. It maybe dates back from the 1940s but some of the author's observations are still used today and it's well worth a read if you can get your hands on a copy.

In his book Frederick Hill says that his favourite fly to fish in low water was a fly called the Musker's Fancy. It was created by Captain Musker and used to great effect on Carlogie during his time as fishing tennant there.

Last week I bought myself some single hooks and decided to try and tie up a couple of these flies because, at the moment the water here is so low anything was worth a cast! I took the dressing for the fly from the book and searched online for a picture of the fly which I found on a cracking website dedicated to traditional Salmon flies. It can be found at http://www.feathersfliesandphantoms.co.uk/vintage_flies_4.html

I took my newly tied flies out on the Don this Saturday past for a test run. The Don, like the Dee is almost down to it's bare bones so I was not too confident in hooking anything. I started at the Manse Pool which incidentally Frederick Hill mentions in his book as one of the best holding pools on the whole river Don and it's still true today. I started at the top of the pool and about 5 casts later I hooked a fish! It took off like a steam engine and I thought to myself, "Surely the fly is not this good!". After a few flashes of silver and a big leap I realised it was a large kelt I'd hooked. Still, at least I knew my fly swam and looked ok to the fish. After a spirited fight another angler netted the fish for me. It was sporting a big Black and Gold Rapala wedged in it's jaws! No idea why it would take a fly with that embedded in it's jaw but it did! Maybe it was clever and realised I would remove both the rapala and fly for it. After removing 2 trebles of the rapala and my size 5 Musker's Fancy the fish swam off no problem, probably glad to have a big 13cm rapala removed from it's mouth.

Just goes to show, you should never fish too light in the Spring. More for the safety of releasing kelts quickly. I fished on for a few more hours but didn't touch anything. As the morning fog lifted the sun was bright and warm so not ideal for fishinig low water. I packed up and headed home to tie up some more Musker's Fancies. Here are a few pictures of the fly and the big kelt.

"Salmon Fishing, The Greased Line On Dee, Don And Earn" by Frederick Hill 1948. Cracking wee book and very interesting read. I love reading all these old books and stories from days gone by. The author tells of a pet blackbird he fed which returned to him every March after the winter had passed.

"Musker's Fancy No.2" This is the fly which a big well mended kelt took a liking to.

"Musker's Fancy No.1". I tied these on doubles as I had no Black singles. Looks ok on doubles. Ordered up some black singles for next time!

A group shot of the flies. I will be using a lot more of these during low water in future. Hopefully something fresh will take a fancy to them next time.

The fish which took my fly. It would have been glad to see the big rapala removed from its jaw I bet. Would have been a lovely fish last year and hopefully next year too. Good to see a well mended kelt on it's return journey to sea.

River Don - Lower Fintray

Had a cast this morning for a couple of hours. The sun was bright and the water was the lowest for this time of year, that I've ever seen it! I headed to the Manse Pool on the Lower Fintray beat of the Don. I fished down the pool without seeing or touching anything.

I noticed that due to the warmish winter the weed on the river bed has not been killed off by the cold water this year. It does not look good for later in the season when the place will be choked. I headed down to the Streams and didn't touch anything there either. I did see a fish show just at the foot of the hill as you come down to the pool on the South bank. The amount of weed in this pool makes it very hard to fish in this low water. Even a fly fished on a full floating line was getting snagged ever cast.

I gave up and headed down to the Cothal Pool. This is probably one of the best high water pools on the whole river. Today though it was down to the bare bones but it was interesting to look into the water with my polaroids on and see the bottom as it's not often you can see that deep. It was worth while as I was looking out for possible lies ie big stones, drop offs etc.

It's all noted for next time the river is in spate. It's badly needing it! Here are some pictures of the pools.

The Manse Pool. It will hold fish for opening day to closing day. I much prefer it with about 1ft more water on the gauge. Still must be one of the best pools on the River Don.

Looking upstream from the tail of the Manse Pool.

The weed clogging up the weir heading down into the Streams. Not usually this much weed  at this time of year, probably due to the warmish, low water we have had most of the winter.

Looking up river from the Streams. This is another lovely piece of water with a bit more on the gauge.

Looking downstream. About 30 yards above the railings down to the tail of the pool on the South bank is best part. Last back-end it was holding a lot of fish. Most I've ever seen in here. More of the same this year please!

The tail of the Streams and into the Cothal Pool. This is my Dad's favourite pool and spends a lot of hours fishing here though-out the season. The faster water runs into a big deep pool. In the high water this will hold the fish for a while after they have run up the rapids from Fae-Me-Well pool.